The purpose of a break is just that - a break from work. Whether you eat a sandwich or not during the time, no one gives a shit (and needless to say no one will follow you to make sure you eat). But it's not a break meant to spend working in any shape or form.

In a country with very few laws around employee protection, people should be glad at least this one is regulated. This law is also the reason why some companies deduct 30 or 60mins from your working hours, independent of whether you take a break or not. The maximum hours of work you're supposed to be doing without a break is limited too.

The reason they are not counting your course as a lunch break is because it's not. The timing is off. No one eats lunch at 10.

That being said, if you're being paid during your course (i.e. do not have to "clock" it as free time; whether the company pays for the course or not is irrelevant), they can insist you take an additional lunch break. If you are not being paid, they are still right, but probably have no grounds to "force" you to take your break.

And yes, language courses at our company count as working time if they are relevant for the job (again independent of who pays for it). If I study Arabic in the evenings just for the fun of it, that is my business. If I take a German course during the day as it's relevant in some way or another for my job, or, in the case of expats, at the very least useful for settling in, they're paying it, i.e. it counts as working time.

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